When I came to, I was lying on a cot in the infirmary. The fact that I was breathing at all was a miracle. I’m not exaggerating when I say I seriously thought she punched a hole through my gut, and that my internal organs were going to fly out of my mouth. I forced my aching body up.
“Tch. You’re still alive.”
Narae, who had been sitting beside me since who knows how long, spoke insincerely. …She was being insincere, wasn’t she?
“Chii went home already.”
“…Is that so?”
“I didn’t want to, but I had Chii tell me everything. I couldn’t just sit idly by after what I heard.”
Is that so? Then I wonder why my heart is hammering in my chest right now?
“I asked Jeongmi-unni about this, and she told me that it has been known for crow phantoms to become adults by doing something like that.”
I got the feeling that Narae did a lot while I was unconscious.
“So, what’re you going to do?” she asked.
But why did her investigation have to end with that question?
“What do you mean?”
I quickly continued to talk before Narae’s face took on a threatening visage.
“I mean, I have no reason to do a favor like that.”
“…Isn’t that a little too obvious?”
“Then what do you mean?” I said without thinking.
Ouch. Saehee wasn’t even here, but I was still being looked at as though I were nothing more than a maggot.
“You haven’t thought about what to do next?”
What to do next? Pyeii told me this on the day we first met. She wants to change. That’s why she asked me for favors, and that’s why I agreed. Only now did I realize that saying that she wanted to fix her personality was practically the same as wanting to magically become an adult. No matter how impossible her wish was, Pyeii had all her hopes set on this.
However.
“…But isn’t there nothing I can do? She’s a kid. We all thought like that when we were kids.”
“…I’m only asking because I’m worried about what you’re going to do.”
About what I’m going to do? One look told me that she was serious.
“Since you’re someone who’d fling yourself at any cute kid you set your eyes on.”
“Wait, please wait. Narae-nim. Why are you accusing me of being a lolicon?”
“Are you saying I’m wrong?”
Narae was genuinely asking.
“I only have eyes for you and Rangii. The only ones I’ve fallen for, and the only ones I love, are you two.”
I gave an honest answer. Narae responded by looking at me with her eyes narrowed and doubtful.
“…You didn’t sound like you meant it.”
I spoke in my best impression of an opera singer.
“I’m serious!”
“I was kidding.”
There was a slight blush spreading on Narae’s cheeks.
“So stop saying weird things like that. How can you say that again with a straight face?”
If we got into a fight, Rangii wasn’t here to stop us from escalating. But the mood of the conversation seemed favorable, so I braced myself and carefully asked Narae something I’d been curious about.
“But if that’s what Pyeii wanted, then why didn’t she bring that up in the first place? Or she could’ve tried to seduce me or something.”
“…Why do I get the feeling that you’re disappointed?”
With anyone else, I might have been able to withstand such doubt, but not from Narae.
“It’s just, I figured it made more sense to go about it like that.”
Narae sighed deeply.
“You idiot. Pyeii’s a girl.”
I already knew that.
“No matter how badly she wanted to become an adult….”
Narae avoided my gaze.
“W-would you want to do something as intimate as that with someone you hadn’t even met before?”
Ah. That was one way to think about it. Then was that why she kept teasing me and trying to get to know me even though she didn’t like meeting new people? Did Pyeii force herself to do all that so she could get herself to like me?
…I couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
“What do you look so sad for?”
Ack!
“I feel sad because of the safety of my body!”
It felt like she’d torn another hole out of my side. I rubbed my stinging side and said:
“Then what should I do?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re smarter than me, Narae-nim.”
“So you know that you’re a real dunce?”
That hurt. That hurt my feelings.
“This is something you have to figure out for yourself.”
Narae, who had always been willing to help before, calmly cut off any chance for rescue.
“…What?” I asked, honestly confused.
“Chii told you all that because she had faith in you. So you’re the one who needs to respond. It’s your responsibility as her older brother.”
…Ah. So that’s what Narae meant. Even though Narae and I were the same age, she always acted more mature than me. With that thought in mind, I gave a reply:
“I understand, Narae-noona.”
Ow. I was hurt not by Narae-nim’s sudden megton punch landing on my face, but by the reason for the punch.
“I seriously hate that side of you! Don’t say things like that as a joke!”
Even while half-conscious, I could hear Narae embarrassedly say that.
I wanted to spend the rest of the school day in the infirmary, but Narae’s magic once again fully revived me, so I had no choice but to force my starved body to my 6th period class. Narae told me that she ate both her and Chii’s lunch all by herself while I was unconscious. I was going to ask her for any leftovers she had, but I was left to wallow in despair when she told me there was literally nothing left. I had no idea where she could have put all that food, especially in this weather. Maybe her breasts? Did she store them in her breasts? I really wanted to eat Narae’s lunch, though.
After class ended and I began walking home, I cautiously asked Narae:
“Wanna come over?”
“It’d just make those two uncomfortable if I did.”
“But I thought you were all getting along nicely?”
“…What did I expect?” she asked herself.
“What’d I do?”
“Didn’t you notice how nervous they were with me even at the end?”
Narae’s face took a gloomy turn when she said that. From my point of view, they looked like a trio of affable sisters, but Narae must have felt differently. Meaning Narae was probably right. Because, unlike her, I didn’t have the ability to sense those tiny mannerisms.
“So, like I said.”
Narae set her hands on her hips, leaned forward, and then poked me on the chest. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
“FIgure it out for yourself, and don’t mess up. Because if you do anything weird, you might die.”
Her cute actions combined with her terrifying words nearly gave me a heart attack.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“I somehow can’t trust you.”
“Has my credibility really fallen so low?” I asked.
“Did you know?”
Narae knows way too many things that I don’t.
“It’s impossible to build trust overnight, but it’s also really hard to lose someone’s trust over small mistakes.”
I remembered everything that happened before.
“But none of that was my fault.”
Maybe I spoke a little defensively, because Narae responded by smiling as if I’d said something cute.
“It’s just a saying, you dummy. No wonder your language grade’s down in the dumps.”
I couldn’t help deflate a little after she said something personal like that.
“I trust you, all right? Do right by those kids. And I’m going to go shopping and stuff, so don’t worry about me.”
I desperately wanted to hug Narae for her warm-hearted concern for Chii, Pyeii, and me, but I stopped myself.
“And try and get them to think better of me.”
I wasn’t the one Narae wanted to hug, so I had no choice but to stop myself.
But did have to stop myself here as well?
“I’m home.”
“Welcome home, Big Brother.”
It didn’t look like anything had happened with Pyeii since i’d left, but Chii was watching me worriedly. I wondered at first if it was because of our conversation during lunch, but after I took around me, I realized that that likely wasn’t the only reason. The inside of the house had changed completely. It seemed like neither of them were as skilled at magic as Saehee, because the structure of the house was unchanged. However, just by changing the interior of the house, it felt like I was in a totally different place. The boring ivory wallpaper was replaced by a pink one that you’d expect to see in a girl’s room. The new wallpaper had on it an unrealistic depiction of a tiger with a magpie perched on a pine tree for some reason. Hanging above the windows were the excessively frilly, white curtains that I could see from outside. I didn’t envy the person who would have to wash them. The floor was topped with high-quality, wood-pattern covering. On top of the covering was a bamboo mat. On the mat were, for some reason, a number of dolls all hugging each other.
I’ll bet you’re having trouble imagining all that. I say that, because I was about to go crazy from sensory overload, myself. I never realized how important the layout of your house was. I was in shock.
“What happened to the house?”
Pyeii took the lead.
[Too dreary, so I changed it.]
“Are you trying to drive people insane with this design?”
[Congrats.]
“Why’s that?”
[Our first success. Now get thee to the police station.]
At least stop playing video games.
“Are you saying you did all this while I was at school?”
At this point, Chii spoke up.
“Awooo, when I came back from giving you your lunch, the house had already become like this.”
Though that was an answer, it didn’t answer anything.
“How’s that possible? What, was this magic, too?”
Instead of writing a response, Pyeii brushed her hands together. In between each of her fingers were gray paper bills that seemed designed to drive me insane.
[The power of money.]
With enough money, you could even summon a ghost.
“I tried to salvage the interior design as much as I could, but this is the result.”
Chii glared angrily at Pyeii. I see. So this mind-boggling juxtaposition of styles was the result of their squabbling.
[Not my fault. Chii butted in and messed it up.]
“You’re the one who made the mess, Pyeii.”
I could pretty much tell which design choices were Chii’s and which were Pyeii’s, but I had to make sure.
“Then who picked the wallpaper and the curtains and the dolls?”
[Chii.]
“It was me.”
…What? Wait. That’s the exact opposite of what I expected!
“I trust you like it?”
Light danced in her eyes and her hair was flapping, when I learned something new. Chii’s actually a sensitive kid who likes really girly things. I really thought that Pyeii picked those things specifically to mess with me. …Wait.
“Does that mean you picked out the mats and redid the floor?”
[Made a mistake. Removing the floorboards took a long time.]
Her smoky words shook in the air, as if angry at herself. In contrast to the clothes she had on, she actually had good sense hidden inside her.
“Awooo, thank goodness I got here before you could finish.”
[Also a mistake to not finish before Chii got back.]
The two of them flapped their arms as they fought. They looked adorable from my point of view, but the fact that they looked genuinely serious was even more adorable. But still. They were forgetting about one thing.
“…This is my house.”
“Awooooo….”
Chii immediately bowed her head, while Pyeii straightened her back in indignation.
[Everything I did turned out perfectly.]
“That isn’t the problem,” Chii said.
Chii tried to explain the point to her friend, but the message wasn’t getting through.
[How much do you want?]
“That’s so straightforward that I don’t know how to respond.”
I sighed. When Saehee gets here, there’s no way she’ll accept these design choices, so I decided to simply wait it out. Instead, I decided to put the emphasis on the fact that took an interest in something.
“Why’d that suddenly catch your fancy?”
[I’m not in love with anyone.]
“I never said you were. And I think you knew that.”
[I hope to one day fall in love with my friend’s husband and run off with him.]
So she watches K-dramas.
“Don’t offhandedly say something so awful.”
[You want my hand in marriage?]
“And don’t make jokes like that.”
[Why so serious?]
“I don’t get it.”
[Reference to a movie.] (tn: There was a pun on homophones that simply wasn’t translatable. So I had some fun.)
Don’t make references that you need to explain. That’s not the important thing right now.
“Don’t change the subject. Tell me why you decided to play interior decorator.”
Pyeii looked a little gloomy when she wrote:
[…I wanted to make it feel more like home.]
“The heck’s that supposed to mean?”
Instead of giving me an answer, Pyeii took out her laptop and pretended not to have heard me. Hey, you brat. Do you think I’m Saehee? How the heck am I supposed to know why you did all that? A sigh nearly escaped my lips when Chii spoke to me.
“With that aside, Big Brother. Are you hungry?”
“I am.”
I had to skip lunch because I was knocked out. For a growing young lad like me, skipping a meal is a horrible ordeal.
“I will prepare your meal right away.”
“Ah, thanks.”
Chii smiled and went into the kitchen. I sat next to Pyeii and spoke to her.
“Are you playing the same game as last night?”
[Too addicting, so I uninstalled it.]
That was a wise decision.
[You wanna play?]
It’s best to avoid something you know you can’t play with moderation.
[I can reinstall it if you want.]
Pyeii practically flung those words at me, but I shook my head. I didn’t want my precious after-school time to disappear in a flash.
“No, it’s fine.”
[I have a favor to ask.]
“That’s out of the blue.”
[Life is about winning the lottery then dying suddenly in a car crash.]
“Whose life are you talking about?”
[The wife received a $1 million. Happy life.]
“There’s no way she’d be happy.”
[The wife’s the criminal.]
“Then it’s just murder!”
[That is life.]
“What a grim life.”
[Planning on dying?]
“I’m not talking about my life.”
[And that’s my favor.]
The conversation went full circle.
“What is it this time?”
[Something easy this time.]
I heard yet another thing in this world that simply could not be trusted. My life was looking grimmer by the second.
“What is it?”
[Crossdressing.]
Crossdressing? Ah, I get it. She must be talking about the clothes you wear when doing cross country running.
“Do you want to take a picture of me running somewhere?”
I tried avoiding reality for as long as I could.
[Very creative. Good for you.]
“No, but seriously. I wore a butler outfit for you last time, but now you want me to crossdress?”
[You dumb? I never forced you to wear it.]
Wait.
“I didn’t have to wear that outfit at all! I was just modeling for you!”
[There was a phantom who wanted to see you in that outfit.]
“Keep on lying, and I might punish you.”
[I’m serious.]
Pyeii did something on her laptop and then spun it so that the screen faced me. There were 38,000 views and 15,000 comments on that terrifying message board. The poster’s username was Pyeii. The title was, ‘My friend is in a sexual relationship with this horrible lolicon.’
I exhaled.
[…Don’t get it on the screen.]
That didn’t matter right now. The stuff below the title was even worse. Pyeii wrote in the description that she was close friends with the girl, that I was obsessed with Chii’s body, and she said she was going to have me model for her and asked for suggestions for what to have me wear.
“…Hey. Didn’t you say you wanted to join this site?”
[Don’t need to register to make a post. But still haven’t accepted my account.]
I had no idea how the Phantomnet site worked, so I couldn’t say anything.
“How does that explain what you wrote?”
Pyeii avoided my gaze.
[I got carried away.]
I had no idea how carried away you’d have to be to write such slander.
[In the comments, this.]
Pyeii pointed at a single comment. A phantom named ‘Little Missy Bear’ wrote the top-most comment. It said that if Pyeii had me wear a butler outfit, she’d upload a picture of her breasts in a bikini. Below that was a user with the weird username, ‘All Hail Shiro’—whom Pyeii told me was the admin of the site—who commented toxically, saying that she didn’t want to see those vulgar mounds of flesh.
“…The hell kind of site is this?”
[A place for phantoms to chat and have fun.]
Chatting I could understand, but I had no idea why they wanted to see me in an outfit. Actually, whoever wanted to see me crossdressing had to have a few screws loose. …Or maybe it wasn’t that they wanted to see me crossdress? This seemed more like hazing before Pyeii could enter the site.
[That aside, are you going to help me?]
Pyeii looked up at me. But she was asking for me to crossdress. The kind of thing you did at a school festival or something. Who would readily agree to do something like that? …Me. What other choice did I have? Pyeii wanted to change, and she worked up her courage to come all the way here to do just that. Pyeii was trying to overcome her past after being spurred on to do so after seeing how Chii had changed. I did have some doubts, but I couldn’t simply stand idly by and do nothing. I breathed a sigh heavy in self-pity and resignation. Pyeii’s face lit up, a happy smile on her face when she saw I would agree to help.
[As expected of the pervert of the phantom world.]
“So you don’t want my help?”
[That would make things difficult.]
It’s just as difficult for me. But there’s the saying that a crisis is only an opportunity that has yet to show itself. If I can overcome this crisis, then maybe I could make everyone think that I wasn’t a lolicon pedophile pervert but a pervert who likes to crossdress. …Was accepting to help really the right decision? It feels like I’m going to transform from a plain pervert to the king of all perverts. I couldn’t just let myself be played. That’s why I brought up something I’d been thinking about for a long time but didn’t have the chance to bring up until now.
“All right.”
Don’t look so happy, you brat.
“But on one condition.”
[…Something easy?]
I nodded.
[What is it?]
“Go outside with me….”
[Hell no.]
Pyeii made a knife out of smoke and cut through the air. There was too much enthusiasm in that swing, and the knife ended up making contact with my head. Rangii’s tooth reverted the knife into smoke, but it still hurt. Did she try to kill me?
“Yes.”
[No.]
“C’mon, yes.”
[I refuse.]
“You’re not going to do me this one favor?”
[Exactly.]
Goodness.
“Then I won’t do your favor, either.”
Pyeii made a sulky face and raised her twintails towards the ceiling.
[Then forget it.]
For real? But what if I really don’t help you? Don’t think that I can’t see you glancing up at me, little miss brat.
“What if I crossdress and also buy you freshly baked bread for tomorrow’s breakfast?”
I could tell that I’d caught her attention when her twintails began to spin. She was beginning to waver.
[Bread?]
“Bread.”
[Freshly baked?]
“Freshly baked.”
[From where?]
“A nearby bakery.”
[Uuu……]
“The same place I went last time.”
[…It was good.]
Our neighborhood bakery was so good that even the famous chains couldn’t make a dent in its popularity.
[With strawberry milk?]
“With strawberry milk.”
[…Okay.]
Just how much does she like bread and strawberry milk?
[I just have to go outside with you?]
“Yep.”
[Is Chii coming, too?]
“That’s my plan.”
[Negotiations reached.]
“Talks concluded.”
Pyeii and I shook hands like the leaders of two countries that had reached a peace treaty after half a century of feuding.
“…What are you two doing?”
Though this may have looked strange to an onlooker like Chii.